Learning, growing, and loving the Didgeridoo.

January 24, 2013January 27, 2013 Joanne11 Comments

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.” ~ Aboriginal quote.

The sound of the didgeridoo being played, as the throbbing sounds reverberated around and around the walls of the Jamieson Valley at Echo Point in Katoomba, New South Wales, is perhaps one of the most haunting sounds I have ever heard during my lifetime.

I cannot imagine anything more iconic in Australian culture than the didgeridoo, or yidaki, as it is known by the Yolngu Indigenous Australians from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

When I visited The Three Sisters at Echo Point in the New South Wales Blue Mountains eighteen months ago I took the photo above, and tonight, whilst searching for a link to add here so you could all hear the magical sounds of the didgeridoo, I just happened to find this very same man on YouTube, playing the didgeridoo at Echo Point!!

Click on the link and listen as you read, it will open in a new window, and here also is a photo I took of The Three Sisters while I was there, to help your imagination along. Of course it never is the same as actually being there and experiencing the sounds, but you should see and hear some of what totally enraptured me.

The Threee Sisters, Echo Point, Katoomba. — The Three Sisters, Echo Point, Katoomba.

If you watch the YouTube video it shows some scenes around Echo Point as well.

Just before Christmas arrived I spent a week in Noosa, Queensland and whilst there I visited the Eumundi Markets. Maybe I visited the markets more than once. Okay, I went to Eumundi for all three days that the markets were open during the week I was there!

The attraction may have been the atmosphere. It could also have been the old-fashioned ginger beer (a non alcoholic ginger flavoured drink we have here in Australia). Kenn may have also played a big part in why I felt the need to return.

At Kenn's shop at the markets could be found any shape, size or coloured didgeridoo imaginable. — At Kenn’s shop at the markets could be found any shape, size or coloured didgeridoo imaginable.

This photo shows my son on my second visit to Kenn’s shop. I felt sure that Adam would enjoy learning how to play the didgeridoo, being musically inclined, and I told Kenn about Adam on my first visit there. (Adam was with his brother and father that day, the boys had gone fishing.) He offered to teach Adam a thing or three about the techniques required to play the instrument (as opposed to blowing into the hollow piece of wood like a trumpet!)

On my next visit, with Adam in tow, we must have spent at least an hour with Kenn, Adam trying out various didgeridoo’s, under Kenn’s instruction. Whilst Adam put into practice what his teacher was telling him to do, Kenn and I chatted.

Kenn himself is a healer and a mystic, qualities inherited from his Aboriginal ancestors. I felt saddened to learn that there are only a few full-blooded Australian Aboriginals left now, compared to years gone by. When an Aboriginal chooses to marry outside of his race, he must leave the tribe. And many have decided to leave, choosing love over heritage.

The didgeridoo is traditionally played at ceremonial events by the men of the tribe only. Women do not play at these events, although they are permitted to play at other times.

Adam soon worked out the breathing style required to play the didgeridoo and amazed Kenn by how quickly he had picked up on actually producing something similar to the correct sound the instrument should make! Adam had a favourite didgeridoo, which he wanted me to buy for him there and then, but I told him he would have to save his money and buy it on our next visit to Noosa.

Adam returned home the following day with his father and I stayed at Noosa a few days longer, during which time I paid my third visit to Kenn. I bought Adam’s favourite didgeridoo, to give to him for Christmas.

Adam at the Eumundi Markets, being instructed on how to play the didgeridoo.

Kenn told Adam he had taught him all he could for now. The rest would be up to Adam, to remember what he had been taught, then practice, practice and practice! That’s all there is to it!

Next time we visit Eumundi we will visit Kenn again, to talk, to learn and then learn some more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKxIj1vzs_k&playnext=1&list=PLC62E9576465B6316&feature=results_main

Australia · gratitude · music · nostalgia · old house · son · spiritual

Capturing the Moment

December 28, 2011 JoanneLeave a comment

“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no delay, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”~Lord Chesterfield.

The above quote sums up an important lesson I have learned during 2011.

With my camera at the ready, as I see a magical moment unfolding, I photograph it. It’s no use in thinking we can go back to the moment later. If we fail to seize the moment, it will be lost to us, forever.

During the year I have captured many moments in time with my camera. We are fortunate enough to live in a generation when we can click away to our hearts content, transfer the photos to our computer and edit later. No more messy and expensive film processing for us!

Most of my captured moments didn’t make it to my blog page, for no other reason than there were so many of them! What better time to share some of my year as it draws to a close.

During my visit to the Blue Mountains in April this year with my youngest son, I captured days which will live in my heart forever. There are those who say you can’t return to your past. Well, I didn’t do that; I re-discovered my past surroundings, through the eyes of an adult. The home where I grew up is obviously loved by its present owner, with both the building and garden being well maintained.

Watching my son ride his skate-board along the same street where I had played as a child was one of those special moments, in need of capturing in the instant of the time.

My old school, the one where I began kindergarten at the age of four, seemed to me to be captured in a time-warp. A well maintained time-warp I might add!

The award for the most surreal moment of the year, when time literally stood still for me, happened when my boy and I visited the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains. As we headed towards the lookout, the sounds of a didgeridoo echoed throughout the expanse of the valley. If you are not familiar with the sound, I have found a sample on You Tube, which you can listen to here…

The man responsible for the Magical Sounds kindly allowed me to photograph him, then complimented my son on his choice of cap he was wearing, a glossy, purple, checkered number he had found a few days earlier!

Making memories with loved ones is really something special; seizing the moment and recognising it for what it is embeds the moment in your heart.

Treasuring the moment, and moving right along in the direction of the next memory is absolutely priceless.

father · friends · music · old house · piano · spiritual · vision

Revisiting Ghosts of the Past

October 6, 2011 Joanne2 Comments

“The more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts”. ~ Italo Calvino

When I had the chance to wander freely around the home and garden of one of my best friends from my childhood, I did not want to miss the chance to take photos, lots of photos. Who knew when I would have an opportunity like this again, if ever?

It surprised me just how many features of this old house, built in 1915, had remained with me for all of these years, and upon seeing them again were just how my memory had remembered them. Now, I wouldn’t have to leave my memories to chance, I would have photographs to remind me.

As we didn’t have access to the inside of the house (yes, we checked every door!), my photos were taken mostly through both windows and flyscreens, so please excuse the poor quality of most of them. You will, however, be able to make out some of the features, such as the old fireplaces and wooden floors.

It was an absolute stroke of luck when I aimed my camera at one of the windows to take an inside photo, when I happened to notice I had a “person” also in my photo. Can you see them, on the left hand side this shot?

The light of the day shone at just the right angle to pick up Adam’s reflection in the glass. With all of his worries about the old house being spooky, he got a kick out of seeing his own “ghostly” image in one of the photos!

Back in the days when this old home had been loved and cared for by my friend’s family, there had been a lovely old piano in one of the rooms. I had asked my friend’s father during one of my visits if I could “play” the piano. I explained to him that I didn’t really mean I could play the piano, I just liked mucking around on them, because I loved them so much.

He asked if I would like to learn a tune. Of course, I said yes!

During each of my visits from then on, we would have a “lesson”, and true to his word he taught me how to play my first tune on the piano.

My own children have heard this story for years and I have taught each of them how to play my song. To this day, that tune is the only one I can play, although I have an old piano of my own and two of my children can play, one of them being Adam. I wish I could tell you what the tune is called, but I haven’t got a clue!

Of course, I had told Adam that this was thee house where I had learned how to “play piano”, showing him exactly where it had been in the house back then.

With the old house now being unoccupied the rooms were bare, so you can imagine my doubt when Adam went ahead of me, peered through a window, and announced, “Mum, here’s your piano”!

How could that be? What were the odds, that within this old empty home, the one piece of furniture remaining would be a piano?

Can you see it there, all alone against the wall?

Who knows whether it was “my” original piano or not, but it was indeed a piano!

Maybe Adam was right, maybe the home and garden did have spooks in it. But one thing I know without a shadow of a doubt, I wasn’t afraid, just filled with the joy of revisiting my old memories and resurrecting some ghosts of the past.

“Apparitions are often confused with hauntings. The difference is that apparitions are “live” (intelligent consciousness) and hauntings are “recordings.” ~ Loyd Auerbach

friends · nostalgia · old house · son

Revisiting Homes of the Past

October 5, 2011 Joanne6 Comments

During my recent visit to the Blue Mountains, the area in which I spent my earliest years, I paid a visit to a number of homes throughout the area that had played a significant role in my childhood days.

At one of the homes I found more than I had bargained for, as the home had a huge “AUCTION” sign attached to the front fence.

This home had belonged to the family of my best friend in fourth grade, Christine. Standing outside of the front gate of the house, after all of these years, the memories of childhood playtime came flooding back.

Christine’s house had seemed very old when I was a child; now the old house sat among the uncared for gardens looking for all the world as it had the last time I had played there, baring the neglect.

A quick visit to the real estate agent confirmed the house was vacant and I was given permission to explore the property.

Thirteen year old Adam (who accompanied me on the trip) was a tad wary of the old home, proclaiming it to be “spooky”. I assured him that the home was indeed old, although one of the friendliest homes you could ever wish for. No bad vibes at this property!

Adam and I, with my trusty camera in hand, explored the front back and both sides of the garden, which to my amazement looked almost exactly as I remembered it.

Had anyone cared for this home at all since Christine’s family had moved away, I wondered?

The rickety old stairs, leading up to the back door looked the same. The wide verandas around three sides of the home, where Christine and I would play together on rainy days hadn’t changed a bit.

Underneath the back of the house we located an old laundry room, complete with cement wash tub.

To the right hand side of the house I was delighted to find a lovely little building, which I imagine would have been a potting shed in its day. Funny, I didn’t remember the little shed, although perhaps it had been off-limits to us children, or overgrown with vines, which had recently been cleared away, no doubt in an effort to spruce up the property for its sale.

By the time the potting shed discovery was made, Adam had begun to ask if we could leave. The potting shed really gave him the spooks! But I loved it!

Lucky horseshoes in the Potting Shed — Lucky horseshoes in the potting shed

With a bit of encouragement I convinced Adam that it was completely safe to go onto the verandas to peer inside the windows, just to get a glimpse of the rooms with the high ceilings, fireplaces and wooden floors that I remembered.

And what exactly did we see through the windows?

That’s another story….for tomorrow. 🙂

Australia · gratitude · happiness

Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Mountains

August 12, 2011 Joanne2 Comments

The theme for the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge for this week is irresistible to me, being “mountains” and it’s the easiest photo ever to come up with, considering my recent trip to the Blue Mountains, where I visited the world-famous “Three Sisters”.

Mountains have the power to move me; to make my soul sing; to bring an overwhelming feeling within my heart that everything is, and always will be, right with the world.

Mountains bring a smile to my face. I lose track of time when I look at a mountain, any mountain, even if it is just a photo of mountains I am looking at.

However, whenever I have the rare and fortunate opportunity to visit “The Three Sisters” all of the above feelings are magnified, one thousand times over.

These massive rocks, the surrounding mountains and the valley below simply take my breath away! 🙂

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